Beijing: Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale will start his two-day visit to China, Sunday during which he will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as both countries grapple with a host of issues, including Beijing’s continuous attempts to block efforts to list Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a ‘global terrorist’. Gokhale is scheduled to meet the Chinese Minister, April 22.
The visit of Gokhale, previously India’s Ambassador to China before he took over as Foreign Secretary last year, is taking place amid close engagement between India and China following the February 14 Pulawama terror attack carried out by a JeM terrorist in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
Gokhale’s visit also coincides with China holding its biggest international event the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) to showcase its trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in which the USD 60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a flagship project. India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
While India is expected to skip the BRF meeting being held here from April 25-27, informed sources said there was no invitation from China to the leadership of India or at the ministerial level to attend event.
Asked whether India would attend the event Indian Ambassador to China, Vikram Misri told state-run ‘Global Times’ last month ‘above all, connectivity initiatives must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity of nations. No country can participate in an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity’.
Wang told the media here Friday that 37 heads of state government and representatives from 150 countries and international organizations had confirmed their participation for the event.
Wang, however, urged India urged India to reconsider its stand on the BRI economic project. He said Friday that it had nothing to do with sovereignty issues.
“One of our differences is how to look at the BRI. The Indian side has their concerns. We understand that and that is why we have stated clearly on many occasions that the BRI including the CPEC is only an economic initiative and it does not target any third country and has nothing to do with the sovereign and territorial disputes left from history between any two countries,” informed Wang.